We are continuing down that road in the history of one of my favorite genres when I was in my latter years of high school and into college known as Nu-Metal. The band that I chose for today had a little bit of a controversial way of how they were signed or at least what happened after they signed made headlines in the Nu-Metal world. Apparently, the band which was made up of Stephen Richards (Vocals and Rhythm Guitar), Phil Lipscomb (Bass), Mike DeWolf (Lead Guitar), and Jarrod Montague (Drums) were apparently on target to get signed by Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst. Fred apparently was taking too long to make a deal go through so the band went ahead and signed with Atlantic Records. Fred in a fit of rage left this on Stephen’s answering machine, “Hey man, you fucked up. You don’t ever bite the hand that feeds in this business, bro . . . Took you under my wing, brought you to my house, talked about you on FM radio and in the press, and you embarrassed me and the Interscope family. Your association with Limp Bizkit doesn’t exist. Your manager slings our name around, he’s going to be blackballed and probably erased, and you will, too. You need to be associated with someone, and now you got enemies. You just fucked yourself. Don’t fucking show up at my shows. If you do, you’re gonna be fucked. You’re learning exactly right now how to ruin your career. All the luck, brother, fuck you.” The rest is history as they said because this may have given the band the publicity they needed as the album Gift sold over 250,000 copies and it peaked at number 160 on the Billboard Top 200 charts.

1. Smile-The track opens up with an in your face riff in a track that is all about being yourself and not what people want you to be. 4/5

2. Again & Again– One of the lead tracks off the album and my favorite track that is about someone who just needs to take a step back to get back to the point when they were in control and above the noise. 5/5

3. Emotional Times– Not a favorite of mine lyrically because it just about how life sucks and not having control of feelings, but musically it’s fierce and Nu-Metal at it’s best. 3.5/5

4. Now– I love the clean channel playing of the intro to this track and it drives most of the song until you get to the all out madness of the chorus. It’s about the narrator needing his significant other or someone he is infatuated with because he feels he can’t go on. 4/5

5. 1 Nite Stand– You would think this song is about one night stands, but it’s not. It’s more about doing something that surprises you cause you never thought you could. 4/5

6. Believed– A very interesting track that starts with some cool pedal effects on the guitars before it kicks into the track and Stephen starts rapping the verse. It has an Incubus feel to it when the chorus hits. It’s lyrically the most interesting track on the record. 4/5

7. Mentobe– Some heavy riffs open the track before it calms for the chorus in a track that looks like it’s about fearing the person that you are meant to be. 4/5

8. I– One of the other amazing tracks on the album that the music is dark in nature with the melodic guitar riffs right into the distorted playing. The track is about all the sorrows that one holds deep inside about the past. 5/5

9. Mirror’s Reflection-an interesting track that is about someone who hates what they see in the mirror so they take it out on others. Insecurities can make someone do awful things. 4/5

10. Dragged Down-The track starts off like a rocket flying into space before it gets melodic for the verses in a track that is about someone who is an relationship where things are one sided but they don’t leave. 4/5

11. Comeback– Musically the song is cool, they try to sound like Korn at times in this track, but sometimes the lyrics don’t work for me. Some of them just seem forced. Otherwise, it’s a cool track when they turn it up. 3.5/5

12. Impact– The last track on the album that just steamrolls through in a track that is about someone who believes that they are making a positive impact on people. 4/5

My Final Thoughts– This was a decent album from a band that I believed was growing musically with every release after this one. Unfortunately for Fred Durst, he was not the reason for the demise of any band because time was ultimately that for the short lived genre. Nonetheless, this was a strong debut for the band that made a statement and I commend them for it. I am going to give the album four stars out of five for a final grade.